Ford Admits It'll Be 'Very Hard' To Stop Ontarians Hanging Out In Larger Groups

Ontarians can officially hang out in groups of 10 people now. But while the province has strict rules for Ontario's social circles announced on Friday, staff are already admitting it's going to be pretty tough to enforce. Premier Doug Ford said on June 12 it's going to be "very hard" to restrict people from seeing more people than they're supposed to.

Back on Monday, staff had announced that social gatherings can be extended from five to 10 people from today, providing that social distancing is still in place.

On Friday, the province expanded upon this by announcing new "social circles" of 10 people. These are mainly intended to be made up of close friends and family.

They will not require the recommended social distancing for gathering, so you should only invite people you're comfortable hugging and being in close contact with during a pandemic.

On its website, the provincial government has outlined the strict rules regarding these social circles.

But on Friday, just minutes after the scheme was announced with the approval of provincial health staff, Ford cast doubt on whether these circles can even be enforced in practice.

"It'd be very hard to enforce with 14.5 million people," admitted Ford in the province's daily briefing.

"That goes right back to day one, we rely on all the people in Ontario to follow the protocols and they've done an incredible job. We're asking people to do the same thing.

"The social circle police aren't going to be knocking on your door. We trust you're gonna be doing the right thing."

He added: "We don't have enough bylaw officers and police to monitor people's barbeques and that. We have to go with faith and trust, like we have from day one."

Ford also appealed to people's desire to be able to get out and do more in the province, noting that controlling the spread of any infections within a small group of 10 is key. 

"It's really just common sense," added Health Minister Christine Elliott.

The province's advice on circles emphasizes that you should start with your current circle of family and close friends. If that group is less than 10, you can add people to it, including another household, more family, or friends.

It also stresses it's vitally important to pick people you trust to stay only within your circle, as mixing groups pretty much defeats the whole point.

So, with little enforcement likely to be seen, it's up to you to be sensible.